LB n^/f 
.kss 



nS,'!},!;!^ O"" CONGRESS 



019 747 870 6 



LECTURE 



ON 



rilLURES IN TEACHING, 



DELIVERED BEFORE THE 



AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION, 



At Bangor, Maine, August, 1848. 



\/L 



By JOHN KINGSBURY, 

PROVIDENCE, R. I. 



J)i^ Printed for gramitous ' fribntion, by order of the Institnte. 



BOSTON: 
WILLIAM D. TICKNOR & CO. 



MDCCCXLVIII. 
L 



VALUABLE SERIES OF FRENCH SCHOOL BOOKS, 

ON A NEW PLAN. 

BY COUNT DE LAPORTE, 

INSTRUCTOR OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE IN HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 

PUBLISHED BY 

WILLIAM D. TICKNOR AND COMPANY, 

Corner of Washington and School Streets, 
(73^,, BOSTON. 



COUiNT DE LAPORTE'S FRENCH GRAMMAR ; Containing all tlie Rules of the Lan- 
guage upon a new and Improved- Plan. New (Stereotype) Edition. 1vol. 12mo, half-em- 
bossed morocco. $1 50. 

COUXT DE LAPORTE'S SPEAKING EXERCISES, for the Illustration of the Rules and 
Idioms of the French Language. New (Stereotype) Edition. 1 vol. ISmo, half-embossed 
morocco. 63 cents. 

COUNT DE LAPORTE'S KEY TO THE FRENCH EXERCISES, New (Stereotype) Edi- 
tion. 1 vol. 12mo, half-embossed morocco. 50 cents. 

COUNT DE LAPORTE'S EXERCISES AND KEY. Bound in one volume, half-embossed 
morocco. $1 00. 

COUNT DE LAPORTE'S SELF-TEACHING READER. For the Study of the Pronuncia- 
tion of the French Language, after a Plan entirely New, which will enable the Student to 
acquire with facility a Correct Pronunciation, with or without the Aid of a Teacher. New 
(Stereotype) Edition. 1 vol. 12mo, half-embossed morocco. 50 cents. 

»• - 
J):^The above Series is used in the Universities of Cambridge, Hanover, and Virginia, as 

well as in many other Colleges, Academies, and Schools in New England and elsewhere. 



[From George B. Emerson, Boston.] 

The Count De Laporte brings to the preparation of his Grammar a thorough knowledge of 
his native language, great experience in teaching, and an exact and philosophical habit of 
mind ; and he explains in the most satisfactory manner, those points which are usually most 
difficult and embarrassing to learners. His work will accordingly be found of great value to all 
who are learning, and especially to teachers of the French language. The means which he 
presents of acquiring the sounds of the language, with little aid from a master, are among the 
best and most effectual that have been offered for that purpose. 

The present edition contains various improvements, and places the Count's works at a mod- 
erate price. See third page of cover. 




LECTURE 



ON 



FAILURES IN TEACHING. 

By JOHN KINGSBURY, 

PROVIDENCE, R. 1. 



It is a common opinion that there is a greater pro- 
portion of faihires in teaching than in other pursuits 
of Ufe. This opinion is undoubtedly without foun- 
dation. From statistics which approach something 
like accuracy, it is estimated that ninety persons, out 
of every one hundred, who engage in business in the 
city of Boston, are either partially or totally unsuc- 
cessful. At the same time it is a conceded fact, that 
nowhere in our country are business men more enter- 
prising, more industrious, more economical, or more 
honorable. 

Now, if the whole number of persons who engage 
in teaching, either as a permanent or temporary busi- 
ness, be included, it is certain the number of failures 
in proportion cannot be so great ; and when this esti- 
mate is confined to those who either make teaching 
a permanent employment, or who design to do so, 
the proportion must be considerably less. 
1 



2 FAILURES IN TEACHING. 

To avoid ambiguity the term failure will be used 
in its common acceptation. There are some persons 
who have so high a standard for the trial of teachers, 
that not one in a hundred or perhaps a thousand can 
be accounted successful. Such a standard, however, 
is not less evidently absurd than that which in busi- 
ness would not permit any man to be considered suc- 
cessful, unless his fortune equalled that of a Girard or 
an Astor. 

It is no subject of surprise that persons of feeble 
capacity, of limited acquisitions in knowledge, and of 
bad moral character, should fail in teaching. Nor do 
we wonder that those, who excel in branches of 
knowledge with which they are acquainted, should 
fail when they attempt to instruct in things concern- 
ing which they know little or nothing. These are 
causes of failure so obvious, that they need not occupy 
a moment's attention. 

All my remarks, therefore, will be founded on the 
supposition that teachej's have good natural capacity^ 
are well educated^ possess good Tnoral character^ and 
are provided with suitable and well furnished rooms 
for their schools. 

Some of the friends of popular education may here 
be led to inquire what more can be necessary '? With 
talented, well educated and right-minded teachers, 
placed in good school-houses and furnished with books 
and other apparatus, surely, what more can be neces- 
sary! Have notour principal efforts been directed 
to the attainment of these very things % And shall all 
our labors in this respect be in vain ? 

All these things arc necessary, but they are only 



FAILURES IN TEACHING. 6 

the preliminaries of a good school. Something more 
must be done in order to avoid faihire. This it will 
be the object of the present lecture to attempt to shore. 

The subject is naturally divided into two parts. 

First, failures which arise from the deficiencies of 
parents ; 

Second, those which result from the deficiencies of 
teachers. 

Irregular attendmrce. There will be a failure, let 
teachers possess whatever qualifications they may, if 
children are not sent to the schoolroom, and kept there 
long enough for some impression to be made on their 
minds. Irregular attendance may neutralize the 
benefits to be derived from the best arrangements, 
and the labors of the best teachers. Some persons 
seem to suppose, that if a child has once entered the 
path of learning, progress is inevitable ; and that how- 
ever far from his teacher, either in body or mind, 
there is a kind of magnetic influence, by which he is 
to be reached, and the teacher is held accountable for 
his improvement. So far is this from the truth, that 
a child may attend school a whole year, yet so irregu- 
!arly or at intervals so far apart, that it will be for- 
tunate, if at the end of the year, he know as much as 
at the commencement. Irregular attendance operates 
much more unfavorably on some minds than upon 
others. Those who are strongly inclined to learn, 
will readily overcome the evils arising from absence. 
But those who are indifferent to study, will lose by 
their absence, not only the lessons of the day, but 
what is of far greater consequence, the interest how- 
ever small, which they may have previously felt. 



FAILURES IN" TEACfffNG, 

The boy who stays from school in order to hiin(, of 
fish, or skate, will not only feel a positive disinclina- 
tion to study his arithmetic when at school, but a 
positive inclination to resume his hunting, fishing or 
skating. Fortunate will it be for the teacher, if the 
boy under such circumstances is not more successful 
in producing an influence among his companions, in 
these respects, than the master in teaching them 
arithmetic. The girl too, who is kept at home for 
the fitting of a mantua-maker, may not only lose her 
interest in study, but is liable to feel that the adjust- 
ment of her dress is more important than the im- 
provement of her mind. There is less objection to 
detaining children from school that they may assist 
in home duties ; because these are not so attractive to 
youth as company, dress, or sports. Yet so serious 
are the losses resulting from absence, that parents 
even in humble circumstances, should never detain 
their children at home for domestic duties, except 
from absolute necessity. Rising a little earlier, more 
activity and diligence, either on the part of parents 
or of children, or both, would, in numerous cases of 
supposed necessity, provide an effectual remedy. 

Ig?iorance. A teacher may fail if the community 
around him are too ignorant to appreciate his labors. 
He may be so far in advance of them, in his methods 
of teaching, as well as his qualifications for it, that 
his very superiority may prove a source of condemna- 
tion. This may occur where parents have just 
knowledge enough to render them self-conceited. 
Such persons are most likely to suppose themselves 
the centre of light and truth, and consequently that 



FAILURES IN TEACHING. 5 

Others are in darkness just in proportion as they are 
removed from that centre. 

Prejudice. Prejudice, however, is a more frequent 
cause of failure than ignorance. Kind and persever- 
ing lahor may in due time dispel ignorance. But 
prejudice is a sterner tyrant, and his tyranny becomes 
more intolerable by the very efforts which are made 
to dethrone him. From whatever source it arises, 
prejudice puts a wrong interpretation upon every thing 
which a teacher does. If he is kind and affectionate, 
it is his object "to get round" parents and children; 
if he is diligent and laborious, it arises from selfish- 
ness or ambition. If he manages his school without 
consulting parents, he is too independent ; if he does 
consult them, he is not independent enough. In short 
a teacher thus situated can never be right. He is 
either too rigid or too lax in his government ; he is 
too religious or too indifferent to religion ; and if there 
is nothing in his moral or intellectual character 
which can form the subject of complaint, prejudice 
will not scruple to attack his person. He is too tall 
or too short; too handsome or too ugly; his manners 
are too gross or too refined ; and his dress is too much 
neglected or it is the subject of too much care. 

Want of pecuniary support. Much has been said, 
and said without sufficient discrimination, about the 
scanty income of teachers. No intellectual labor is 
generally so poorly paid. While from some, the shoe- 
maker, the tailor, and the quack doctor receive the 
highest pecuniary rewards for their services, those 
who are called to the godlike work of moulding the 
immortal mind, are paid proportionally a much more 

1* 



FAILURES IN TEACHING. 

limited sum, and that sometimes most grudgingly. 
At the same time it must be confessed, that the 
smallest sum paid to poor teachers is money wasted : 
and he who receives the lowest wages is sometimes 
most of all overpaid. The great difficulty has been, 
and there is reason to fear that it is not now sufficient- 
ly removed, that there has not been a proper distinc- 
tion made between the poor and the good teacher; 
the successful candidate for place having too often 
been the one who sets the least value on his services. 
A good teacher should receive a remuneration so am- 
ple, as to enable him to live respectably in the yjlace 
where he is appointed to instruct ; to avail himself of 
books, social influence and travel, to such an extent 
as shall better qualify him for his profession ; and to 
place him, if he practise a wise economy, out of the 
reach of harrassing anxiety about the means of sup- 
port. For the want of such compensation, many a 
deserving teacher has not had the means of improve- 
ment, and been obliged to rest satisfied with limited 
attainments in knowledge, or he has been driven from 
one place to another, till finally he has quitted the 
business of teaching in disgust. 

Failures in teaching may arise from a want of 
respect and kind sympathy ; interference with govern- 
ment and modes of instruction; dictation of influen- 
tial individuals, and from a total indiflierence to the 
whole subject of education. But numerous as are the 
sources of faikire which arise from parents, it is the 
more immediate purpose of tlie present lecture to no- 
tice some of the sources of failure arising from teachers 
themselves. 



FAILURES IN TEACHING. 7 

Should any of my remarks seem inapplicable to 
those who engage in teaching as a temporary avoca- 
tion, allow me to express the hope that the time will 
come, and at no distant day, when persons will be- 
come teachers without any more probability of chang- 
ing their profession, than there is in the practice of 
law or medicine. When this shall come to pass, one 
of the most prolific sources of failure will be removed. 
It is said of the early conqueror of Mexico, that when 
he landed he destroyed his fleet, so as to remove all 
possibility or hope of retreat; and thus taught his 
followers that nothing but victory or death was be- 
fore them. The more speedily you can destroy the 
life boats of those who engage in teaching, by which, 
in case of failure, they design to make good their re- 
treat, the more certainly you will achieve one of the 
noblest triumphs for the profession. 

Want of hard and fersevering labor. Tn the first 
place, whatever may be the talents and attainments 
of the teacher he will fail if he does not work hard. 
It seems a very diflicult lesson for some to learn, that 
labor is the basis of all success. The young especial- 
ly are prone to think that it depends chiefly if not en- 
tirely on chance. Consequently some men spend a 
whole life in watching chances of success, while they 
neglect the only sure means of attaining it. 

Two merchants, side by side, are engaged in the 
same business. They possess equal capacity and 
equal facilities for trade. They are equally moral, 
and both are valuable members of society. It is 
therefore matter of surprise to some, that both are not 
equally prosperous. Let the observer draw nearer 



8 ' FAILURES IN TEACHING. 

and he will learn the reason. The one is engaged in 
business both early and late. He personally superin- 
tends the minutest transactions. In the absence of a 
clerk or any other agent, his own hand supplies the 
place. The work of today is not only finished, but 
so finished that he is ready to anticipate the work of 
tomorrow. His neighbor, on the other hand, does 
not wholly neglect his business. Early rising, how- 
ever, and an early breakfast are not entirely agreea- 
ble; therefore the work of the day begins later. 
Perhaps the first thing is to answer an order which 
should have received attention yesterday, or even the 
day before. Perhaps also that very order, in the ab- 
sence of a clerk, may be postponed till tomorrow. If 
pleasure entice him from business, he flatters himself 
that he can be fully remunerated by greater subse- 
quent diligence. The one either becomes bankrupt or 
accumulates little wealth, while the other is rich and 
increased in goods ; and yet the latter differs from the 
former in nothing save his untiring industry. 

Just so is it in teaching. In no pursuit is unwearied 
industry more necessary to success. Let no one, 
therefore, enter upon it who wishes to shun labor, or 
whose first question is directed to securing his per- 
sonal ease. 

The teacher must also persevere in his labors. 
Many are willing to bestow much labor on the com- 
mencement of an enterprise ; but it is in expectation 
that it can be remitted after a few weeks or months. 
The teacher must labor not only when he is establish- 
ing his school, and when making himself acquainted 
with the branches of knowledge, which he is required 



FAILURES IN TEACHING. © 

to teach, but he should strive continually to make 
himself a better teacher, every successive day and 
year, so long as it is his profession. He must labor 
too, where the immediate results do not appear to the 
common observer, or scarcely to himself. It was un- 
seen and unappreciated labor, which gave the finish- 
ing touch to the immortal works of a Phidias or a 
Raphael. So it is with the teacher. The efforts on 
which ultimate success oftentimes depends, are such 
as will bring no immediate renown. All men may 
not need to bestow an equal amount of labor, in order 
to produce a given effect ; but whenever any thing, 
finished and beautiful, is before us, whether in moral 
or in intellectual results, whether in the elegant or 
the useful arts, we may rest assured it is the off- 
spring of labor. 

Want of jpunctuality . Immediately connected with 
the preceding is another cause of failure, want of 
'punctuality. Punctuality not only requires attend- 
ance at school regularly and. in due season each day, 
but also the exact fulfilment of each duty at the ap- 
pointed time. This habit the young should learn, 
and they sooner learn it from example than from 
precept. The teacher, therefore, should be to his pu- 
pils an eminent example of this virtue. He who is 
late, loses time which he cannot regain, and in at- 
tempting to do so, he is liable to fall into impatience, 
and thus mar all the exercises of the day. Nor is 
this all. A teacher who is late, will find his scholars 
late; and, as deficiencies seldom come single-handed, 
late scholars will be more or less deficient in their 
lessons. And what is worse than all, the teacher who 



10 FAILURES IN TEACHING. 

is late, will find that some of his punctual scholars 
have been very diligent in the use of their time. But 
he will find too, that they have used that time in a 
wdij pectdmrly their ovjn. How many a design, sub- 
versive of a teacher's influence, has been begun, ma- 
tured and executed, while a school has been waiting 
for his tardiness. He who would prevent evil, rather 
than correct it after it has taken place, should, if pos- 
sible, be the first at his school. He should be there 
not as a spy, but as a friend. It is at such a time 
that he can, if judicious, gain a most important social 
influence, as well as acquire that knowledge of indi- 
vidual character which will materiallv aid him in 
adapting his instructions to special cases and special 
exigencies. At the same time he can attend to many 
things by way of preparation, which, thougli trifling 
in themselves, could not be done during the regular 
hours, and the want of which might occasion no in- 
considerable friction in the arrangements of the day. 

Want of perseverance in some system. A teacher 
may be industrious.^ and may ])ersevere in his indus- 
try; but for the want of perseverance in some fixed 
plan or system, his labors may be rendered unavail- 
ing. With great earnestness he introduces some 
favorite scheme to-day. He has found, as he thinks, 
the philosopher's stone, and he is resolved that the 
world shall receive the benefit. He carries his scheme 
into execution, and possibly sees it attended with good 
results. But the results are not unmingled good. 
Difliculties, such as he did not apprehend, meet him, 
and this beautiful theory is renounced for another, 
which will in due time share a similar fate. He la- 



FAILURES IN TEACHING. 11 

bors sufficiently, but is too impatient for the results; 
and as a natural consequence he tries no one plan 
long enough to form a deliberate judgment. Such 
a teacher is not much wiser than the child Avho plants 
his beans, and frequently plucks them up to see if 
they have not sprouted. 

Love of novelty. Nearly allied to this is another 
source of failure, love of novelty. It is the nature of 
some men to cleave unto the old because it is old, it 
is equally the tendency of others to embrace the new 
merely because it is new. Of these extremes both are 
unwise and unphilosophical ; but the latter is by far 
the worst. He who adheres to a principle because it 
has long prevailed, has the assurance that there is 
something in it which is good, or it would not have 
been preserved from obhvion. Whereas, he who 
grasps at every thing new, is ordinarily in the situa- 
tion of one, who leaves a boat, which would at least 
carry him safely, if not speedily, to the shore, for one 
that may sink the very next moment. A teacher 
should never adopt novelties as a part of his system 
of instruction, till he has by careful investigation sat- 
isfied himself that they are decided improvements ; so 
decided that they will more than counterbalance the 
evils of change. 

Directing the mind to other objects. Dr. Good has 
somewhere said that the old proverb, "you must not 
have too many irons in the fire," is very pernicious 
in cramping the energies of men. He adds you can- 
not have too many, though you have "poker, tongs 
and all." Old maxims are not to be discarded with- 
out reflection; for frequently they are concentrated 



/ 



12 FAILURES IN TEACHING. 

wisdom. There may be some persons, to whom Dr, 
Good's theory may be apphcable, but the majority, if 
they attempt many things at thesame time, will fail 
in them all. This if specially true of teachers, whose 
personal labors are required in the instruction of their 
schools. There may be some who superintend sem- 
inaries of learning, having excellent assistants, that 
may devote a large share of attention to other objects, 
and yet be eminent in their profession. Be assured, 
however, that if the mass of teachers allow their 
minds to be devoted to other objects, though excellent 
and useful in themselves, and sometimes closely al- 
lied to their professional duties, there will be a corres- 
ponding loss in the value of their instructions. What- 
ever withdraws from his school, the fresh feelings, the 
choice thoughts, and glowing enthusiasm of the 
teacher's mind, has purloined what it can never re- 
place. The making of a book, the exclusive pursuit 
of any branch of science or literature, the love of art, 
the investigation of a principle in mechanics, not to 
mention business pursuits, habits of speculation or 
love of pleasure — have frequently undermined a 
teacher's influence and subjected him to failure. 

Dislike of teaching. It is a good general rule that 
persons should not engage in any business, towards 
which they feel a repugnance. If circumstances be- 
yond their control have, for a time, thrown them in- 
to such a situation, let them first of all subdue that 
dislike ; or if they are unable to do it, let them quit 
an employment which they can never honor. This 
is peculiarly applicable to teaching. Some, however, 
may engage in the profession without any dislike at 



I 



^AlLltRES IN TEACHING. 1^ 

first, and yet after a certain period, fall into that dis- 
position. Against such a disposition a teacher should 
constantly strive. It is incidental to all occupation. 
There is no station in life which has not its vexa- 
tions, perplexities and disappointments. The sooner 
this is understood by the teacher, and manfully met, 
the sooner he will render himself happy and useful. 
One of the natural results of turning the mind to other 
objects of engrossing interest, is the diminution of that 
love of teaching which is an indispensable requisite 
to success. That seemingly paradoxical doctrine of 
the New Testament, whosoever lovith not, hateth, has 
its foundation in the human mind, and is applicable 
to more than one class of men. He who is obliged to 
teach, while he has given his heart to some other ob- 
ject, will inevitably fail. He is liable to this, if for 
no other reason, because he cannot long endure the 
labor. Every step is one of difficulty where the heart, 
is not engaged. See the child that has l:)een directed 
to ask the forgiveness of a playfellow, whom he has 
wronged. So long as he is unwilling, his reluctant, 
heavy step shows how difficult is the task. See him 
again. Why is that heavy step changed to one of 
perfect ease and elasticity 7 He is going to that same 
companion; but it is to join him in a holy day excur- 
sion. So it is with children of larger growth. If 
therefore, the teacher dislikes his work, and yet at- 
tempts to perform the necessary labor, this labor is 
liable to become a burden which neither his physical- 
nor his intellectual system can sustain. This leads- 
directly to another source of failure. 

Want of health. The health may be impaired not. 
2 



14 FAILURES IN TEACHING. 

only by labor, which we feel to be burdensome; but 
from the performance of cheerful labor and from a 
strong desire to avoid failure. There is a limit to 
every constitution beyond which the individual can- 
not pass with impunity. If there is a class of persons 
under deeper obligation than any others to understand 
this limit, and the general laws of health, that class 
is composed of teachers. It may be thought that 
parents form an exception ; but the influence of pa- 
rents is necessarily limited to a few, while that of 
teachers extends to greater numbers. Leaving the 
general subject toi the medical faculty, let me call 
your attention to one of the laws of health, which re- 
quires no depth of science to understand, and yet 
obedience to it on the part of teachers, should be im- 
perative. It is the balance to be preserved between 
physical and ititellectual labor. This law may vary 
materially in its application to different individuals ; 
and though its requisition may be greater in one in- 
stance than in another, that requisition must be fairly 
and faithfully met. There is no other alternative 
except by suffering a penalty which is never slight, 
and sometimes fearfully severe. Teaching is mainly 
intellectual effort; and the more intensely the intellect 
is tasked, the more imperatively this law demands 
corresponding exercise of the body. Some individuals 
need vigorous and even protracted physical exertion. 
For others, mere cessation of intellectual labor may 
be all that is required. Each person should know 
how he can best be relieved from that state of exhaus- 
tion which follows all intense mental effort. If this 
law were better understood, and better obeyed, when 



FAILURES IN TEACHING. 15 

imdersrood, we should not see so many failures in pro- 
fessional life ; nor so many of our best teachers, male 
and female, retiring from their stations when they 
are best fitted to adorn them. There is no hazard 
in making the assertion, for it is susceptible of the 
fullest proof, that it is not mental labor which kills 
professional men. In nine cases out of ten, it is phy- 
sical inactivity and disregard of the plainest laws of 
health. No one can study so as to injure himself, if 
he will take time enough to counterbalance that study 
by physical exercise. It is a very great mistake to 
suppose that time cannot be found for this; it is only 
in this way that time can be extended and made 
equal to our labors. The freshness and vigor which 
come from active exercise, will materially diminish 
the amount of time otherwise necessary for the ac- 
complishment of any intellectual effort. Connected 
with health, and greatly dependent upon it, are several 
requisites, the want of which may produce failures in 
teaching. 

Patience. By this is not meant that disposition 
which will induce a teacher to sit down and calmly 
endure evils which might easily be corrected. This 
is only another name for indolence. Patience, on the 
other hand, is a never-tiring principle, which will en- 
able you to perform cheerfully for the tenth time, that 
in which you have failed for the ninth, provided you 
are satisfied that the effort is right and sufficiently 
important to demand so much attention. While it 
does not require one to pass over wilful neglect and 
positive disobedience without rebuke — it does require 
the teacher to use every suitable means to subdue 



I€ FAILURES IN TEACHING. 

such a disposition ; and at the same time to repeat 
cheerfully, again and again, instruction to well dis- 
posed pupils however dull they may be. For the 
want of this heavenly virtue, many a teacher is not 
only impatient ivith his scholars, but with the school- 
house, with the neighborhood or town, in short with 
every thing by which he is surrounded. 

Equanimity, or what perhaps is a better term, 
vniformity of disposition. This is not a passive 
principle wliich makes men indiflerent to what is 
passiug around them, but it is an active one, which so 
regulates and controls the whole being, that the 
teacher is the same to-day as yesterday. For the 
want of this, teachers punish conduct at one time, 
which had only occasioned a smile at another, and 
which probably would not have taken place, had it 
not been for that smile. 

Self control. He who is appointed to teach, cannot 
do it well without a just and steady control over his 
scholars. Nor can he control them in this manner, 
unless he controls himself This is by no means a 
trifling work. So mighty is the task, that inspiration 
pronounces him who ruleth his spirit, better than he 
that taketh a city. Patience, equanimity and self- 
control, are all, in no inconsiderable degree, influenced 
by health, and cannot be manifested in their best 
forms without it. Yet so indispensable are they to 
success, that the teacher who is suffering from indis- 
position, should strive more strenously to exercise 
them, than when in perfect health. 

Government. The most difficult part of a teacher's 
duty, is the government of his school. So important 



FAILURES IN TEACHING. 17 

however, is good government, that some teachers who 
are deficient in ahnost every thing else, by this alone, 
meet with considerable success. For it is an estab- 
Hshed principle, that no school is good which is not 
well governed. There are two very common ex- 
tremes. Some govern too much. You may always 
hear the sound of the ferule, the snapping of the 
whip, or what perhaps is quite as bad, the noise of 
the tongue. The machinery of government, what- 
ever it may be, is always in motion, and compara- 
tively little lime is left for the important work of in- 
struction. On the other hand, some teachers govern 
too little. They fall into the opposite extreme, and treat 
children as if it were impossible for them to do wrong; 
or at least, as if there was little difference between the 
right and the wrong. In such a school you are not 
troubled with the machinery of government — but the 
total want of all government. Noise and confusion 
usurp the place of order, and the genius of improvement 
flies far from such a scene. Between these two extremes 
there is a happy medium. It is found in that school 
where the teacher directs and controls every thing, yet 
in so kind and quiet a way, that the scholars seem to 
govern themselves. Every thing is subjected to law, 
but the machinery of government is scarcely percep- 
tible. 

Self-conceit. No persons should so carefully guard 
themselves against self-conceit as teachers. Their 
professional intercourse is so necessarily limited to 
their inferiors, that they are liable to over-rate their 
own attainments, and rest satisfied with present ac- 
quisitions. Nothing will sooner impair their influ- 
2* 



18 FAILURES IN TEACHING. 

ence. It renders them disgusting to other persons, 
destroys the respect which is necessary to sanction 
their labors, and what is worse, closes every avenue 
of improvement. It may be assumed as an axiom, 
that he who teaches well to-day, and yet ceases to 
make further acquisitions in knowledge, will soon 
cease to be a good teacher. The current of society is 
onward ; and he w^ho in any respect remains stationa- 
ry will soon be left behind. Indeed it is impossible, 
from the nature of mind, to remain stationary. If 
therefore we are not making progress in knowledge, 
we are losing ground, and very soou it may be truly 
said of us, that we are behind the age. It is true 
there are certain principles in education, which are 
so well established tliat they will remain the same 
forever. In the application of these principles, how- 
ever, there is room for the most studied ingenuity. 
At the same time there is a wide field where first 
principles are either undiscovered, or as yet quite un- 
settled. ^elf-co7iceit, or any other thing which pre- 
vents the teacher from aspiring after higher attain- 
ments, should be most studiously avoided. His mind 
should be ready for the reception of knowledge from 
every, even the humblest source. By failing to do 
this, teachers have placed in the way of their advance- 
ment, the most insurmountable obstacles with which 
they have ever been troubled, and drawn down upon 
their profession the severest satires of the most gifted 
minds. There is one way, and only one, in which 
teachers can prove, not only that Dominie Samson 
and Ichabod Crane are caricatures of the profession, 
but also that they have not sufficient resemblance to 
preserve them from merited oblivion. It is by indi- 



FAILURES IN TEACHING. 19 

vidiial and united aspiration after the highest moral 
and intellectual endotoments. 

Fondness for hobbies. All men have their hobbies. 
Teachers not only have them, but are more prone 
than other men to ride them to death. This arises 
from two causes; first, their professional intercourse is 
with their inferiors in knowledge, by which they 
over-estimate themselves ; second, they have less op- 
portunity than others to have their hobbies put to the 
test of severe investigation. One teacher delights in 
arithmetic, and he makes every thing bend to his 
favorite pursuit. Another is equally delighted with 
geography, and much time must be devoted to it, 
even to the exclusion of other studies equally impor- 
tant. Or the favorite may be language, rhetoric, elo- 
cution, or any other of the numerous branches now 
introduced into schools. If undue prominence is given 
to any one of these, there will be a corresponding loss 
in reference to the others. It is not the business of 
teachers to make great arithmeticians, or great lin- 
guists merely ; but to advance their pupils in every 
species of knowledge necessary to their situations in 
life, and to unfold in harmony all the faculties, moral, 
physical and intellectual. The former course presents 
a much stronger temptation. A more brilliant exhi- 
bition can easily be made in the presence of specta- 
tors. A much greater reputation can in a short time 
be gained, and much severe labor and patient endur- 
ance can be avoided. Yet is it too much to suggest, 
that such a reputation may be more easily lost; and 
that we hence learn the cause of the failure of some 
celebrated schools and some very celebrated teachers 1 
There is not a gifted teacher, who if he will push 



FAILURES IN TEACHING. 

some two or three favorite studies, especially with 
reference to some very gifted pupils, cannot gain more 
reputation in six months, than in half that number of 
years, by attempting the harmonious cultivation of 
all the powers of every one of his scholars. Yet it is 
only this latter method which is pursued by the real- 
ly good teacher ; and it is this method only, which 
can sustain a teacher's reputation for any considera- 
ble number of years in the same place. 

It would be easy to swell the list of causes having 
more or less influence in producing failures in teach- 
ing; austere, uncouth and embarrassed manners; 
want of kind and sympathizing affections; defective 
powers in the communication of knowledge ; rash and 
hasty temper; dislike of children; imprudence in 
speaking, especially of things communicated in con- 
fidence — but the enumeration shall be closed with a 
topic, which might have preceded all others, as it 
blends more or less with them all, and which, if not 
possessed in some degree, will render all other acqui-- 
sitions comparatively useless. 

It is common sense. Common sense enables the 
teacher to adapt himself and his instructions precise- 
ly to the place, which is the scene of his labors. Un- 
der the influence of this, he looks at men and things, 
just as they are, and not as they should be, or as he 
might wish them to be. He does not commence his 
school with a beautiful theory, adapted only to fairy 
land, or with a plan well adapted to some real meri- 
dian, but not at all to that where he is; he adapts or 
modifies or makes a plan, exactly fitted to the pecu- 
liar circumstances of the neighborhood, district, town 
or city, where he is called to teach. He knows full 



FAILURES IN TEACHING. 21 

well, that what would be well suited to the habits 
and manners of a city, would be perfectly absurd in 
the country; and that the converse of this is equally 
true. While he feels under obligation to set up a 
high standard for himself and others, he takes care 
that this standard is not only a practicable one, but 
one which shall seem practicable to other reasonable 
persons. His maxim is, to do all he can., if he cannot 
do all he woidd. Common sense enables the teacher 
to ejffect judicious reforms. He does not begin them 
by unnecessarily shocking the prejudices of people. 
He first gains their confidence, before he attempts re- 
form, and then attempts no more than he can reason- 
ably hope to accomplish. If different methods are 
equally practicable in the attainment of his end, he 
will select that one which excites least prejudice; 
and in addition to this, he will take particular pains 
to demonstrate, step by step, the utility of the change. 

Common sense also instructs a teacher to rely upon 
himself for success. Some persons are prone to rely 
upon political, sectarian or family influence; and 
some even make loss of health or loss of property a 
claim to patronage. These things may aid a teacher 
in establishing a school, but they will not enable him 
to sustain it for any length of time. He hence learns 
that if his school is to prosper, it must be by his own 
individual exertions. 

Many teachers for the want of common sense, fail 
in the management of financial matters. The success 
of a particular srhool, as well as the cause in general, 
is made to turn upon the skill of the teacher in this 
respect. The want of this skill is followed by disap- 
pointment, discouragement and failure. Some teachers 



jBB 



FAILURES IN TEACHING. 



make expenditures, either without duly considering 
whether they can afford them ; or whether by so do- 
ing, they shall not bring themselves under great em- 
barrassment. A teacher who judges incorrectly in 
this respect, not only wastes his money, and endangers 
the success of his enterprise, but what is far worse, 
he is liable to lose his reputation as a man of good 
judgment. Without this a teacher is like Samson 
with his shorn locks. 

If a man has a fortune and can imitate a Fellen- 
burg, it is a subject of congratulation that he should 
spend his money in so noble a cause. The majority 
of teachers however, must by their labor obtain the 
means of living; and if they make expenditures be- 
yond their ability, they seldom gain even the thanks 
of those for whose benefit the sacrifice is made, but 
more frequently draw down upon themselves their 
censure, however undeserved. 

Professional men sometimes seem, to act as if it 
were beneath their attention to understand matters of 
business, as if they thought their professional ability 
was great, in the direct ratio of their inability to com- 
prehend the value of money, or to understand the 
every day things of life. On the other hand, it is a 
melancholy thing, to see a man who has enjoyed the 
blessings of moral and intellectual refinement, so give 
himself to the pursuit of business, the accumulation of 
wealth, as never to manifest aspirations after higher 
enjoyments. Is there not, however, a happy medium 
between these two extremes'? May not a man be- 
come eminent in his profession, rise to the highest 
point of moral and intellectual improvement, and gain 
a wide range of knowledge in other things even of the 



FAILURES IN TEACHING. 23 

minutest kind? Is it not said of Roger Sherman, that 
so minute and various was his knowledge, that he 
made every tradesman with whom he conversed, be- 
lieve him to belong to his particular craft 7 Could 
we not more confidently insure the success of many 
who engage in teaching, if they possessed more of this 
same kind of knowledge ? If it could not be some- 
times truly, as well as sarcastically said of them, they 
have all kinds of sense except common sense ? There 
is no doubt that teachers ought to possess sufficient 
knowledge of business affairs, to give them influence 
with practical men. Otherwise practical men will set 
aside their best suggestions and their wisest plans, on 
the ground that they are mere book-worms or men of 
the closet. 

It may be thought that these suggestions have un- 
necessarily assumed a negative form ; that the whole 
might have been said, and said in a better way, un- 
der the title of Requisites to success in teaching. The 
present mode however, has been adopted with the 
hope that a more lasting impression may be made 
upon the minds of teachers. 

The suggestions have all been made, on the suppo- 
sition that teachers have good natural capacity ; suf- 
ficient acquired knowledge; good moral character; 
and are provided with suitable, and well furnished 
rooms for their schools. 

Such teachers may fail, if children are not sent 
regularly to school ; if the community around them 
are ignorant and influenced by prejudice, and do not 
furnish a competent support. 

They may fail for the want of sufficient and per- 
severing industry, punctuality, and perseverance in 



u 



FAILURES IN TEACHIN&. 



some given plan or system ; from love of novelty, di- 
recting the mind to other objects, dislike of teaching, 
impaired health ; want of patience, equanimity and 
self control; from bad government, self conceit, fond- 
ness for hobbies ; and finally for the want of good 
common sense. 

I have just glanced at a few of the causes of failure 
in teaching. By no means are they to be viewed as 
all equally important in their bearing on success. Yet 
so far as my observation extends, through a period of 
many years experience in teaching, no persons such 
as were supposed at the commencement of this lec- 
ture, have failed, without one or more of these causes 
having contributed to that effect. What then shall 
be done to diminish the number of such failures in the 
future? Let the causes of failure stand out as warn- 
ings to every one who enters the pathway of this pro- 
fession ; and let the requisites to success burn as so 
many beacon fires, to guide him onward and upward, 
till his labors shall be crowned with glorious success. 
And above all, let him, remembering his own weak- 
ness, repair to that Fountain, from whence alone, can 
come the strength, and the wisdom which he needs. 
If he should be so fortunate as to win applause, thai 
wisdom will preserve him from the fatal effects of 
flattery and self-conceit. If he should find his fondest 
hopes blighted, his best motives misinterpreted, and 
his most self-denying actions wickedly traduced, that 
strength will confirm his heart, and nerve his arm 
for still nobler efforts, till he shall gain his final 
crown. 



[From Professor C. C. Jewitt, of Brown University, March 7, 1848.] 

Messrs. W. D. Ticknor & Co. : 

I have received and carefully examined the French books of the Count de Laporte, which 
you kindly sent me. 

I do not hesitate to express to you the opinion that I have formed, that the Grammar is by far 
the best that exists in our language for the thorough study of French. We have had no lack of 
excellent elementary treatises, but we have long needed a complete grammar — one which 
should ftimish full and satisfactory answers to the questions which present themselves to the 
thoughtful student, which should be for Englishmen, what the Grammar of Girault, Duvivier, 
and Napoleon Landais are for Frenchmen. The Count de Laporte has endeavored to supply 
this want, and he has accomplished this task in an able and scholarlike manner. 

The "Exercises," and the " Self-Teaching Reader" are admirable works. The latter con- 
tains a pliUosophical analysis of the sounds of the French language, aud a clear and accurate 
exposition of their combinations. 

I will merely add, that I intend to use these books with my classes. 



[From Geo. W. Greene, Professor of Modern Languages in Brown University.] 
Two things distinguish the Grammars of Count de Laporte from all other French Grammars 
which we have had occasion to examine — the clearness of its arrangement and its general 
completeness. And we use the word completeness in preference to any other, for it expresses 
our meaning exactly. For by completeness in a work of this kind we mean full and satisfacto- 
ry answers to all the questions which can present themselves to the mind of the thoughtful stu- 
dent in the course of reading or writing, and not answers merely in the form of rules, but all 
the illustrations from standard authors, which are necessary to render the rule intelligible, and 
impress it upon the memory. Now this is what Count de Laporte has done, and he has done 
it too in a manner which leaves very little to be asked for. Take, for a short example, the 
paragraph on the use of pas and point, or for a fuller one, his exposition of that thorny pass in 
French, the use of the imp. perf. def. and perf. indef. 

It is not fair to ask of a writer more than he pretends to give you, and therefore we shall not 
condemn Count de Laporte for having treated each subject as a whole, instead of separating 
the origin and formation of words from the principles of their connexion. In a philosophical 
work, like Becker's German, or Kuglmer's Greek, or the lamented Nordheimer's admirable 
Hebrew Grammar, this division is essential, for the two subjects are so distinct, when consider- 
ed from this point of view, that it would be impossible to form a clear idea of either, if they 
were taken together. But Count de Laporte has aimed rather at a full and systematic exposi- 
tion of the facts of the language, and this he has accomplished very successfully. The reader 
will find each part of speech fully discussed in separate sections, the word first, and then the 
rules which govern its application. Pages are devoted to the article alone, and no one who 
wishes to master this difficult subject, will think there is a page too much. Let any one study 
this chapter in connexion with the Exercises, and he will find that he has little left to learn 
which any grammar that we know of can teach him. The exercises are judiciously arranged, 
and form an indispensable accompaniment of the grammar. Of the Self-Teaching Reader, it is 
not too much to say, that it is the only satisfactorj' work of the kind we have ever met with ; 
the only one which contains a philosophical analysis of the sounds of the French language, 
and a clear and accurate exposition of the principles of their combination. 

In our own course, for we write ex cathedra, we have used De Iiaporte after Ollendorf, whose 
work (we speak only of the French) is far from meeting the wants of the advanced student. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



[From Rev. H. Winslow, Bos 



I consider it a very accurate and thorough Grammar of tli 
more common Elementary matter, it is replete with observ 

peculiarities of the French language. . . . I am free to e: ,,„„,„„,... 

French Grammar extant among us, which exhibits the idioms Q 019 747 870 O 
more thoroughly. 



[From Daniel Leach, Teacher, Boxbury.] 

I have examined with care and attention the series of French books prepared by Count de 
Laporte, and I have no hesitation in saying that I think them the most complete and philosoph" 
ical that I have ever seen. They are such books as a thorough practical teacher only could 
have prepared, and one admirably adapted to remove the difficulties that an English student 
would meet with in studying French. I shall henceforth use them in my school. 



I [From Prof. Arnault, French Teacher, Boston.] 

* * * Indeed, I do not know any better Grammar! not only in this country, but in the 
world, for his purpose. It contains all the rules, difficulties, and niceties of the French Lan- 
guage, carefully collected from the very best authorities ; and besides, the whole work is now 
presented on the new plan of the "abrege" of the grammaire nationale (by Besherelle, Paris) 
an improvement which makes this edition very valuable, clear, and_ convenient. * * * In 
my opinion it ought to be, and will be in time, in the library of everybody in America who 
wants to improve his French, and especially of all conscientious teachers. 



[Fr6m the Philadelphia Saturday Courier.] 

" The auspices under which these works are presented, will entitle them to respectful con- 
sideration. They claim, and obviously possess, considerable novelty. The author would seem 
to have constructed the series with a view to exhaust all the resources of the language, to leave 
none of its usages, however new or irregular, unprovided for. It contains everywhere the evi- 
dence of care and scholarship, and will no doubt become a work of standard character. * * 
The whole series will be regarded with interest by all who are directly engaged either in teaching 
or learning the French Language. They are printed with unusual neatness, on good paper, and 
are well bound. 



WILLIAM D. TICOOR & CO, 

RATE FOR SALE THE 

LECTURES 

DELIVERED BEFORE 

THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF INSTRUCTION, 

FROM 1840 TO 1848, INCLUSIVE. 

In 9 ISmo volumes, handsomely bound in cloth. Price $4,50, or 50 cents per volume. 

Each volume contains the JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS of the Institute, at its annual 
session, in addition to the Lectures. Five copies sent to one address for $20. 



